


never want to let you go

by LiteraLi



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe, Alternative Universe - No Island, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27233908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteraLi/pseuds/LiteraLi
Summary: Five years ago, Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak’s relationship ended before it even really had a chance to begin, due to external circumstances leading Oliver to become Felicity's boss.They’ve barely spoken since, which is why Felicity is shocked to discover when she wakes one morning that she and Oliver had gotten married after running into each other at a bar the previous night.And now he’s refusing to sign the annulment papers, because guess what?He’s apparently been in love with her this whole time.And he’s determined to make her realize she feels the same.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 179
Kudos: 321





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I know I said I'd be back with a fic for Olicity clue, but I'm a bit stuck with finishing that one. It was getting a little too angsty for me to deal with at the moment so have some accidental marriage fluff!
> 
> Unlike my last fic, I am posting as I write so there won't be regular updates. But I am already working on the next chapter so hopefully it won't be too long a wait! This will probably be around 5 chapters or so.
> 
> This is actually based off a couple from an old-ish TV show - bonus points if you can guess which one (the title is a hint)!
> 
> This one is un-beta'd, all mistakes are my own.
> 
> [Just a note to add that I am in no way suggesting that I support the idea of a man forcing a woman to stay married to him if she does not want to. If you think this might be triggering to you, please do skip this one. However, this is Olicity and we know they love each other. Oliver will be respectful of Felicity's boundaries while giving her the little push she needs to realize it too ;) ]

  
  


_ Five years ago _

"Felicity Smoak?"

Felicity looks up from her computer screen at the handsome man standing in the doorway of her office.

"Hi, I'm Oliver Queen," her visitor announces, a hint of a smile on his lips. 

"I know who you are, Oliver," Felicity tilts her head at him and gives him an exasperated look, "you don't need to do that bit every time you come to see me." 

Why he thinks recreating the first conversation they ever had whenever they haven't seen each other in a while is funny, she has yet to figure out. Although it is  _ sort of _ cute - not that she'd ever tell him that.

Oliver breaks out in a full grin, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "It's been a while, wasn't sure you'd remember me."

"It's been  _ two _ weeks, max," Felicity rolls her eyes at her friend. Well, technically he’s her boss. 

Her boss who she's friendly with.

Felicity had met Oliver when he'd come to her for some computer help a few years earlier, shortly after she started working at Queen Consolidated. With his father recently diagnosed with a chronic illness, Oliver was being groomed to take over the business sooner than anyone had originally planned. When she'd met him, he was just barely scraping by in his sixth and last year of what should have been a four-year business degree, as well as rotating between different positions at QC so that he could learn about each of its many departments.

Oliver had returned to her periodically for help with various technologic matters, and a kinship had slowly started to develop. They were strictly 'at-work friends', but over time, they'd come to share things about their lives with one another. He’d shared his frustrations about not having a choice in taking over the family business and his fear that he wouldn’t be capable of taking on the task. And she’d shared with him the apprehension she had experienced when leaving Vegas to try and make a better life for herself, and her desires to one day leave the IT department and start a business of her own.

Felicity had been surprised to discover that there was more to Oliver than met the eye. He may have been a playboy who shunned responsibility only a few short years ago, but the Oliver she knew was kind and caring. He had stepped up to do the right thing and be there for his family. Sometimes she even felt like she was one of the few people to get to know the real Oliver Queen. When he was with other people in the company, his rich fancy friends, and even his own family members, it was almost as if he adopted a different persona. She much preferred the Oliver she had gotten to know over late nights helping him study for finals or prepare for business meetings over endless cups of fancy coffee he bought to repay her.

Felicity can't deny that she sometimes wonders if they could be more. They had definitely exchanged their fair share of  _ glances _ , and had accidentally-on-purpose brushed up against one another a time or two. But nothing ever came of it. And even if he  _ is  _ interested in her too - which she seriously doubts at times because, come  _ on _ , Oliver Queen can have his pick of women - there’s still that pesky little issue of him basically being her boss.

"So you've been counting the days since you last saw me?" Oliver teases her.  _ Flirts  _ with her?

"So have you, apparently," Felicity refuses to become flustered, as she is apt to do when he comes round, "so, what's up? Spilled another beverage on your laptop? Forget to hit save?"

The last one is kind of a low blow, as Oliver knows by now the importance of backing up his work. Not to mention that he should be using the program she set up so that all of his documents autosave to the cloud. He gives her an unamused look and she grins.

"Actually, I just wanted to share the good news," he tells her, and she notices that he puffs out his sculpted chest a little, clearly proud of what it is he has to say. ( _ Noticed _ ? She meant  _ not _ noticed.) "The board was really impressed by the latest work I’ve been doing in the finance department. They think I'm ready to move over to Operations, which will most probably be the last of my training before I take over things in a year or two."

"That's amazing, Oliver!" Felicity hopes she comes across as genuinely happy for him. Which she  _ is _ , of course. It's just that...as Oliver moves up in the company, the further he'll be moving away from  _ her _ . “I always knew you could do it."

"Well, that makes one of us. Seriously, Felicity, I wanted to thank you. I never could have come this far without your help and your belief in me."

"Don't sell yourself short, Oliver," Felicity scolds. Oliver's one fault - if one can really call it that - is his self-depreciation. "The reason you've made it here is because all of  _ your _ hard work paid off."

"Yeah, okay, turns out I really can succeed when I put my mind to it. Even though it's the last thing in the world I want to be doing…" Oliver trails off, wistful, and Felicity wishes she knew what to say to him. She constantly wavers between wanting to tell him he shouldn't have to give up on his dreams just because of his last name versus telling him she's proud of him for taking on this responsibility for his family, and generally ends up going for the later.

"But, hey, this is a cause for celebration, right?" Oliver forces a smile, and she nods enthusiastically, determined to be supportive. "We should go out tonight and celebrate, what do you say?"

"Oh, um," Felicity babbles in surprise. What  _ does _ she say? "You mean, go out with your friends?" Oliver has never invited her out to  _ anything  _ before, save for a few trips to pick up coffee from the cart downstairs.

"No, I meant just you and me. We could get dinner?" Is it just her or does Oliver Queen, playboy extraordinaire, seem  _ nervous _ ?

She decides to just accept before she reads too much into it, and starts wondering about whether or not this is a date. "Okay, sure! When and where were you thinking?"

"I'm free at six, so we could meet downstairs and just head out after work? We could check out that new Italian place if you'd like. Or else we could just get Big Belly."

Hmm. Fancy Italian restaurant or fast food joint? It seems Oliver himself isn't so sure if it's a date or not. Not wanting to be the one to make such a crucial decision, she picks the safer option.

"I love Big Belly."

If he’s disappointed with her answer, he hides it well.

"Great! See you at six!" He grins, and reaches out to squeeze her hand - resulting in sparks traveling up her arm that  _ surely  _ she’s not the only one feeling - before leaving her office.

_ Frak _ , that was unexpected.

* * *

A few hours later, with some freshly applied lipstick and her glasses switched out for a pair of daily contacts she carries around for, well, occasions such as this, apparently, Felicity heads out to meet up with Oliver in the QC parking lot.

She makes her way to her car, keeping an eye out for him. Not seeing him, she unlocks her Mini and climbs in, deciding to wait for him there. Oliver had asked if he could ride with her instead of having his driver drop him off.

Suddenly, a form appears from the other side of the car, startling her and making her jump in her seat. She instinctively reaches for the Mace in her purse.

"Woah, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity!" Oliver exclaims, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Oliver? You scared the crap out of me!" Felicity drops the Mace and tries to get her heart rate back under control.

"Sorry," he smiles sheepishly, "good reflexes, though." He chuckles, clearly amused by her reaction.

"Ha. You ready to go?" Felicity gives the parking lot a sweeping glance, wondering what would happen if someone were to see the future QC CEO get into a car with her. She’s not ashamed to be seen with him, but she knows how the rumor mill works. The last thing she wants is to be the subject of tomorrow’s bathroom gossip, especially when she herself doesn't know what this is yet.

Oliver folds himself into the passenger seat, which ends up being quite a feat. His tall form barely fits in her tiny car.

"I would have asked Digg to drop me off if I would have known your car was this small," Oliver jokes as he finally makes himself somewhat comfortable. 

"You can suck it up for one night, Diggle deserves a night off," she retorts, keying up the engine and pulling out of the parking space.

"He actually might have wanted to come in with us. His sister-in-law Carly works there, you know. And I'm pretty sure there's something going on between the two." 

"There may be something going on right now, but mark my words, he's going to end up back together with Lyla eventually. He clearly still loves her." Diggle has mentioned his ex-wife enough times during their conversations for her to gather that much.

"You know about Lyla?" Oliver is surprised. 

"John and I talk sometimes," she shrugs and she sees Oliver smile out of the corner of her eye.

Their conversation turns to family, and they’ve caught one another up on the latest with Donna and Thea by the time they pull up to Big Belly.

Oliver’s phone rings just as he’s pulling the door open for her.

“I’m sorry, it’s my mother,” Oliver’s eyes are genuinely apologetic.

“That’s okay, you should get it, it’s probably important.”

“Order me the same as whatever you’re getting, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Felicity nods and heads inside to place the order, chatting amicably with Carly for a few minutes before grabbing a table.

Oliver comes in just after their food is served and she can tell immediately by the look on his face that they won't be eating their double doubles tonight.

“Oliver…” Her heart drops, knowing he probably just got bad news. “Is everything ok?”

“It's my dad.” Oliver’s face is crestfallen.

“Is he…” Felicity doesn’t want to finish the question.

“No, he's okay, he's stable. But he took a turn for the worse and...the board wants to move up the timelines. I'm going to be taking over as CEO. Immediately.”

“Oh. That’s good, about your dad. I mean not good, but...you know what I mean. Congratulations, Oliver.” She tries to swallow the lump in her throat. Because she knows what this almost certainly means. For the remainder of the evening, and for the future of their relationship.

“Felicity, I'm sorry. But I-” There’s a pained expression on Oliver’s face and she’s not sure if he’s upset because he has to leave her, or because of the circumstances under which he has to leave.

“You have to go. I understand,” Felicity tells him firmly.

“Here,” Oliver lays down some bills, which are enough to cover their meal and leave a generous tip. “I insist.”

“Do you need a ride?” She’s suddenly overcome with the need to take advantage of any time she has left with him. Who knows what will be the next time they come face to face?

“I appreciate it, but Diggle is already on his way. I'm sorry again, Felicity. I was having a really nice time.” She can tell he means it from the look in his eye and the way he continues to linger at the table.

“Me too.” She gives him a sad smile.

“Good night, Felicity,” he says softly.

“Good night, Oliver. Good luck with everything.”

He turns and walks away.

* * *

She doesn't hear from him for three days.

Which is not to say she doesn't hear  _ of _ him. He’s all over the news.

_ At Less Than Thirty Years of Age, Oliver Queen Named CEO of Queen Consolidated  _

_ Will Former Playboy Oliver Queen Be Able to Keep His Family Company Afloat?  _

_ Look Out, Star City Ladies, Our Resident Billionaire Bachelor Just Got a Whole Lot Richer: Could He Be Searching for His Queen? _

Felicity is sure Oliver must be going through a lot of stress and mixed emotions. She considers reaching out to him to offer moral support but chickens out every time she goes to text or call.

“Smoak!” She’s sitting at her desk Monday morning looking at articles about Oliver instead of working when her supervisor snaps at her.

“What?”

“You’re to report to the CEO’s office immediately. He requested you  _ personally _ .” Felicity nods, ignoring his sneering tone.

Heart pounding anxiously, she heads to the elevators, nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she ascends to the top floor. She’s only been on this floor once before, when the interim CEO, Walter Steele, had required her help with a project. It’s very quiet up here, the sound of her clacking heels echoing loudly in the hallways.

When she reaches Oliver’s office, his EA waves her straight through after reading her nametag.

She knocks softly as she enters, her eyes immediately drawn to Oliver, who’s slumped over his desk and running his hands through his hair in frustration. He looks run down and stressed and Felicity wishes they were the kind of friends that exchanged hugs, because it looks like he could really use one.

“Uh...Mr. Queen?” She’s suddenly not sure how to act around him, especially in the earshot of his EA.

“Felicity, hi!” Oliver’s tired face immediately perks up. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. I brought some of my tools with me, they didn’t say what you needed help with…”

Oliver rises from his seat and strides over to her, ushering her inside his office and closing the door. He hits a switch by the glass wall and then turns to her.

“Frosted glass,” he explains with a smile, “I didn’t ask you up here to help me fix anything, Felicity. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“ _ Oh _ .” While she may have  _ hoped _ that was the case, she wasn’t actually expecting it.

“I'm sorry it’s taken this long for me to contact you. I should have called.” Oliver surprises her yet again with his words. 

“That's ok, you were under a lot of stress. I know you were busy with your family, the company...You don’t owe me anything.” And he really doesn’t. They’re not exactly phone-friends. Maybe if the other night had ended differently...

“No, I  _ am  _ sorry,” Oliver insists, his piercing blue eyes looking at her intensely, “The thing is, I thought we had more time, you and I… I'd been wanting to ask you out for a while. But I was nervous. I didn’t feel like I was worthy of you, so I kept pushing it off, and found other excuses to come down and visit you. And then the board spoke to me the other day and I realized there was this deadline looming, and it felt like it was my last chance before, well...this. And now it’s too late…”

“Oliver…” Felicity barely manages to get her words out, she’s so busy trying to process Oliver’s declaration, “Do you mean... the other night...did you want it to be a  _ date _ ?”

“I was hoping it could be, yes.” Oliver states, a light blush rising to his cheeks. It’s adorable.

“Oh. Me too,” she admits, smiling shyly, just basking for a moment in the feeling of knowing that Oliver feels the same way as she does. Because she knows she’s not going to like what comes next.

“But now…” Oliver continues, and Felicity can’t bear to hear it.

“Please don't.”

“Felicity…”

“Look, I know what you're going to say. We can't...figure out if we'd be good together because of your new position. And I completely understand. I just don't want to hear you say it, okay?” 

“I thought I could be Oliver Queen, CEO,  _ and _ see where things go with us. But I’ve realized it just isn’t possible. With everything going on, I need to give being CEO my full focus right now. Plus, with the no-fraternization policy, it just wouldn’t be fair to put you in a position where you would have to lie. If we were found out, you would be under scrutiny from the public eye, and I want to protect you from that. And it's not fair of me to ask you to wait until I get a handle on running the company and try to appeal to the board, either.”

“And I don’t get a say in this, do I?” Her voice comes out a lot harsher than she means to, the hurt in her voice evident.

“Felicity, I’m sorry…” Oliver looks pained, too. She knows this must be hard for him. And maybe he’s right - the company and his family should be his first priority right now. It doesn’t make this any easier. She still can’t help but feel he’s making the wrong choice. He’s putting everyone else’s needs above his own, and while that’s more than admirable, doesn’t he deserve to be happy too?

“Okay, Oliver, I get it. Let's just move on, okay? We can forget the other night ever happened.” Maybe that’s harsh, but if she’s to survive this loss, of something that could have been, she’s going to need to put it behind her. It’s probably a good thing that this happened now, before they took that next step towards becoming something more. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Oliver surges forward, cradling her face in his hands and leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.

It’s just a gentle press of his lips to hers at first. But when she doesn't pull away, he increases the pressure, deepening the kiss. So much is being said with this simple touch of their lips. Felicity can feel his reluctance, his regret, as she kisses him back. And she can feel how much he cares for her. But she knows it won’t change anything. 

The warmth from his lips travel throughout her body, leaving her aching and wanting  _ more _ . 

More than he’s willing to give.

Oliver pulls away slowly, breathing heavily, his hands still surrounding her face. He looks down at her, eyes full of emotion. “Don't ask me to forget it ever happened.”

Slowly, Felicity removes his hands from her cheeks. Why did he have to go and make this that much harder? How will she ever move on from this, from him?

She looks into his sad eyes. “I asked you not to say anything.”

Then she turns and walks away.

* * *

_ Present Day _

Felicity wakes slowly, overcome with the sense that something just isn't quite right. Her head pounds, and she realizes she's slightly hungover. She forces herself to open her eyes and take in her surroundings.

She’s at home, which is good. Everything in her room seems to be in place. However, she’s wearing her nicest pair of pajamas, which honestly, are only one step away from lingerie, and are usually saved for when she’s having  _ company _ over.  _ Male  _ company. 

Oh frak. She’s never been drunk enough to bring a guy home for a one night stand. Especially not one she can’t even remember the following morning.

She feels a sense of dread set in as she remembers the series of events that led her to the bar last night. Had she been that determined to drown her sorrows and forget, that she just hooked up with some random guy?

But the bed is empty. And she’s completely clothed. So maybe nothing did happen last night. She takes a deep breath and rubs her hands over her eyes and face to try and clear her head.

And then she freezes.

Because a glint of metal on her left hand has caught her eye.

And when she pulls it away to get a closer look, there’s no mistaking it.

It’s a wedding band.

She can’t help the shriek that she lets out.

“ _ MARRIED _ ? I GOT  _ MARRIED _ ? AHHH!”

Almost immediately, she hears the bathroom door slam open.

Felicity tenses, not knowing who or what to expect. Does she have time to grab the Mace from her purse? Where  _ is _ her purse?

“Felicity!” At first, all that registers is a blurry, slightly damp, clean smelling, muscular male figure rushing in. Something about the voice seems familiar but she can’t place it right away. “It’s okay, it’s just me. You’re safe.”

The man finally stills by the side of the bed and she looks up, her heart beating erratically. Her eyes skim up his chest, clad in a well-fitted tee, until she reaches kind blue eyes. Eyes that she could never forget, not even after all these years.

“Oh my God...Oliver?!”

Oliver Queen beams down at her, completely calm and at ease with the predicament they seem to have found themselves in. A quick glance to his left hand shows that he’s sporting a matching ring. That can’t be a coincidence.

“Good morning...wife!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope everyone is doing well and keeping sane and safe <3  
> Next chapter: we'll have a flashback to the previous night and get to see more of Oliver and Felicity's reaction in the morning!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a flashback to the previous night, Felicity runs into Oliver after her evening doesn't turn out as planned.
> 
> And in the morning, our newlyweds have have a lot they need to disucss...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm back!  
> Writing this as I go is definitely taking longer than when I posted on a weekly schedule, but hopefully you'll all stick with me. This chapter has been almost ready for a while, but I wanted to edit it a bit more and also get started on Chapter 3 before posting but it's here now!
> 
> Thank you so so much for all the kudos and comments - I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to replying yet, I hope you'd agree with me that you'd rather I spend my time writing the next chapter instead of answering comments, but I will get to them soon!!
> 
> Anyhow, enough about me, I hope you enjoy chapter 2. Still un-beta'ed. And I didn't notice that anyone correctly guessed what show/couple I based this on, maybe this chapter will have some larger hints ;)

_The previous night_

Felicity falls back onto her couch in shock. Maybe she should have read the signs, seen this coming. But no, she’s completely gobsmacked.

She was supposed to be getting engaged tonight but instead - she just got dumped.

Everything about tonight had been planned down to a tee. As things had to be when two CEOs of well-known tech companies were planning on merging their lives together. What they would wear, where he would propose, who would take the first picture. There was even a press release ready to go out tomorrow morning. Which someone should probably cancel, come to think of it.

But Ray promised her he would handle ‘the clean-up’.

If a two-year relationship boiled down to who was going to _handle the clean-up_ , what did that say about them to begin with?

Felicity had met Ray shortly after founding Smoak Tech four years ago. With their first prototype on the market, they were finally making a name for themselves, and when Ray Palmer, CEO of Palmer Tech, approached her at a tech conference, she could hardly believe it. Talking shop led them to realize just how much they had in common and a fast friendship soon blossomed.

They were just friends at first, as Ray was still grieving the loss of his fiance, Anna, who had died in a tragic accident a few years earlier. And truthfully, though she tried not to think about it too often, Felicity was still nursing a broken heart of her own. But after spending some time growing closer to one another, Ray had asked her out one day and she had accepted. And things had been nice. Easy. She genuinely cared for Ray. So when he brought up marriage, it had seemed like the next logical step.

She said yes.

Plans had been set in motion, all leading to tonight. 

And then Ray knocked on her door, and instead of leading her down to the limo as planned, he had asked if he could come inside and uttered those four famous last words.

As it turns out, while Felicity had been making plans for their new life together, Ray had been busy himself - falling in love with some woman named Nora. Nothing had happened between them, he had been quick to clarify. And Felicity believed him. But, as he explained, he had fallen for Nora nonetheless, and if he and Felicity were meant to be, he shouldn’t have been able to develop feelings for someone else.

And now Ray is gone and Felicity is sitting here, in the dark red dress she had carefully picked out for tonight, trying to figure out what comes next. As she lets herself process what happened, she has to admit to herself that she does agree with Ray: the two of them were never meant to last. She’s not as sad as one would expect to be about the loss of who she thought would be her future husband. Mostly she’s just _angry_. Angry at Ray, yes, but also at herself. For settling for Ray when she knew, deep down, he wasn’t the one. For still not having the balls to go after what (and who) she really wants.

With a huff, Felicity forces herself to get up off the couch. She’s all dressed up, her hair and makeup have never looked better. Why should she sit here and sulk and let the night go to waste? She grabs her phone and keys and calls a car.

She’s going out tonight.

* * *

She doesn’t know why she gives the driver Verdant’s address, maybe because it’s the only club she really knows in the city, despite it being a few years old. Definitely _not_ because it reminds her of Oliver, of the way he told her all those years ago how he wished he could go into business with Tommy and Thea instead of taking over Queen Consolidated. It’s not like she's expecting to run into him - she knows for a fact he doesn’t actually work there.

Felicity walks in, her head held high, trying to play it cool and confident even as she feels several eyes on her. She approaches the bar and asks for their most expensive red. She chats with the bartender while he airs the wine. He’s cute, with a strong jawline, but a little young for her taste. 

Felicity practically gulps down the glass when he sets it in front of her. Now that she’s here, she realizes she can’t remember the last time she came to a club. She’s certainly never come to one alone before. What’s the endgame here? What’s she supposed to do all night? She absolutely didn’t come here looking for a hook-up, not this soon after Ray.

She asks the bartender - by now she’s learned his name is Roy - to just leave her the bottle. Perhaps with enough liquid courage, she’ll be able to let loose and maybe dance a little.

After glass number two, she allows her eyes to wander, taking in the sights. She doesn’t see Tommy or Thea anywhere, although it would make sense that they take some nights off. She _does_ notice a table to the side, with a bunch of good-looking guys sitting around it, drinking and chatting. _Familiar-looking_ guys, who she had definitely seen somewhere before…

Guys who she had seen on her employee Curtis’ Fire Department of Star City calendar, to be exact, which he displayed proudly above his desk. One of the guys sitting amongst them looks familiar for a different reason, though, and Felicity goes still as she realizes who she’s looking at.

“Hey, Roy, is that…?” She asks while still keeping an eye on the table. She needs him to confirm that her mind isn’t playing tricks on her after half a bottle of wine.

“The FDSC? Yeah, the guys tend to come in here to unwind after their shifts.”

What she _meant_ to say was, _“Is that Oliver Queen?”_

Because, oh, yeah, Oliver is a firefighter now. Which she knew not because she was keeping tabs on him - and yes, okay, she did look him up from time to time but only on rare occasions when her resolve was weak - but because it was impossible to live in Star City and miss the news a few years back that Oliver Queen was stepping down as CEO in order to follow his dreams of helping the city by becoming a firefighter.

And oh, boy, that is most _definitely_ him. There’s no mistaking it as he turns his head to speak to one of his colleagues.

She spins back towards the bar, her heart rate suddenly elevating, hoping Oliver didn’t see her. 

“You okay?” Roy frowns at her, “You seem flushed.”

“I’m fine,” she insists.

“ _Ohh_ , I get it. Listen, I know those guys pretty well. Want me to introduce you to one, blondie?” The way he uses the nickname isn’t rude. It’s almost like he’s teasing her, a smirk on his lips.

“Don’t call me blondie,” Felicity scowls at him, “And no, I most definitely don’t want you to introduce me.”

“They’re all nice guys, I promise. Trust me, I know, my girlfriend’s brother is one of them.”

“You have a girlfriend? Tell me about her.”

“Hey, don’t change the subject. You completely tensed up when you saw those guys...or maybe _one_ of those guys?”

Roy’s eyes suddenly veer to look at someone behind her, and he raises his hand in greeting.

Oh, _no_.

“Felicity Smoak?” He says it as if it’s five years ago and he’s just popped into her office for a visit.

Except, it isn’t five years ago, they’ve barely said a word to each other in the past five years and oh, yeah, he’s the guy who broke her heart.

And yet there’s a part of her that’s excited to see him again. Most probably the inebriated part.

“Hi, Oliver,” Felicity slowly turns to face him, aware of Roy watching the situation unfold with great interest, “or should I say...Fireman Queen?”

“Ah, perk of the new job, no lofty titles,” he smiles down at her and she allows herself to take him in, the blue eyes she could lose herself in, his hair and scruff the perfect length, and the new muscles on display below his snug tee.

“Can I buy you a drink? I’d love to catch up.”

“Umm…” It’s not that she wants to say no, it’s just that she’d always imagined the first time she saw Oliver again to be different somehow. Not in a club, not the same night she broke up with her almost-fiance, and definitely not after downing almost an entire bottle of wine.

“Please? We can use the VIP area, it’s a little more private.”

She never could refuse him when he asked her for something like this, his voice soft and his eyes pleading, and apparently she still can’t.

“Okay,” she nods, against her better judgment. But her heart sings.

Oliver orders another bottle of wine from Roy, who has most definitely been listening to their entire exchange. Felicity’s too busy freaking out that she doesn’t realize what Oliver ordered until the Lafite Rothschild 1982 is in his hands.

She narrows her eyes at him, “Hey, I asked Roy for the most expensive red he had. He was holding out on me.”

“This is one you need to make a special request for,” Oliver winks, and then grabs her hand without hesitation, pulling her towards the VIP section, “come on.”

Once they’re seated in the semi-secluded area, Oliver pours them each a full glass.

Felicity watches, silent, somewhat mesmerized, and still in disbelief that this is happening. On tonight of all nights.

Oliver pushes her glass forward. “It’s good to see you, Felicity. I’ve kept up with your success online, but I’ve really missed seeing and talking to you.”

“Me too,” she smiles at his words, agreeing with each of his sentiments, “I was really happy for you when I heard about your new career. How did that come about, if you don’t mind my asking?” With the glass in hand, it’s a little easier for her to relax. And she does genuinely want to catch up with him. 

“Well, you remember John,” Oliver seems more than glad to share his story with her.

“Of course.”

“Well, about six months after I took over as CEO he told me he was leaving his position as my personal bodyguard to join the FDSC. With his army background, he just felt that he wanted to work in a job where he was able to help more people. He told me his _friend_ had recently joined and helped convince him to make the career change. Turns out - that friend? None other than Lyla Michaels.” Oliver gives her a pointed look, correctly guessing that she’d be excited about that information.

“Aww. _Please_ tell me--”

“They got remarried less than a year later.”

“I knew it!” Felicity exclaims, a wide smile breaking out on her face.

“And…” Oliver is clearly enjoying sharing this news with her, “the only reason they waited that long was because Lyla had just given birth to their twins, Sara and JJ.”

“You’re kidding me! That’s the best news I’ve heard all year.” 

“Yup, here,” Oliver swipes open his phone to show her a picture of the Diggle family.

“Oh, they’re adorable.” Felicity spends a few moments soaking up the cuteness that is the Diggle twins before Oliver puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Yeah, they’re super cute, and John and Lyla are these super-firefighter-parents.”

“Amazing. Wait, back up - you didn’t join with John, so…?” Felicity tilts her head at him, urging him to continue his tale.

“Right, it was about two years later that I joined. When I first became CEO, I was determined to give it my best shot, so I stuck around for a few years. Especially after my father died…”

“I’m sorry about your dad, Oliver…”

“I know, and as I told you back then, the note you sent me after he died meant a lot to me. Thank you.”

Felicity gives him a sad smile and nod. They had barely communicated in the past five years, but she had sent him her condolences when Robert Queen passed away, and he had written back to thank her. 

“Anyway, I definitely didn’t feel like I could leave for a while after that…” Oliver continues, “But then, there was a fire in the Glades. Do you remember?”

“Of course. I was running Smoak Tech out of my apartment back then, and I could see it from my window. It was terrible…”

“You met the barman back there - Roy? Well, he’s actually Thea’s boyfriend, and they were together at his apartment in the Glades when it happened, just barely escaped. And there were too many that weren’t so lucky. Now, you probably didn’t hear about it in the news, because you know how _great_ the PR department is at covering these kinds of things up, but it was a gas leak at QC’s old steel factory that caused the fire. Just around the corner from here.” Felicity can hear the contempt in Oliver’s voice.

“Oliver...I’m sure it was an accident…”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it stuck with me. What was I doing at QC, besides helping rich businessmen get richer? I know, I know, there’s some great work going on at Applied Sciences, but believe me, all that mattered at the end of the day was the bottom line. I couldn’t do it anymore. I spoke to Thea and Walter before I approached my mom, because I didn’t want to leave her high and dry, and we came up with a plan. So now my mother and Walter run Queen Consolidated. And I was finally free to do something I felt made a real difference in people’s lives.”

“That’s amazing, Oliver. I’m proud of you.” She means it, but at the same time, her heart pangs. It would have been so much easier to get over Oliver Queen if he had been a jerk. But no, not only was he a responsible son and brother, he had to go and become a goddamn hero. 

“You’re part of the reason I was able to do it, too, you know?” His gaze is piercing, honest, and it almost makes Felicity want to look away.

“What do you mean?”

“You, having the courage to leave QC all those years ago, start your own company, run a successful business that’s making the world a better place? That’s what inspired me to do the same.”

“That’s...very kind of you to say, Oliver,” Felicity’s not sure how to cope with the way his words make her feel, all warm and fuzzy inside.

“You’re welcome. So, enough about me, tell me about you. You can start with what brought you to Verdant tonight.”

“I’m going to need another glass if I have to talk about _that_ …” She tilts her glass forward.

“That bad, huh?” He gives her a generous serving. Oh wow, they’re already halfway through this bottle.

Felicity tells Oliver the whole sordid affair. He’s quiet as she talks, listening attentively and responding with appropriate visual cues when called for.

He reaches out to cover her hand with his in a soothing gesture. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that that led to us running into each other tonight, but I am really sorry that happened to you, Felicity. That’s really messed up.”

“Yeah, and like, what kind of last name is Darkh, anyway? That’s _Darkh_ , not Dark. With an H. What is she, some sort of supervillain?” Felicity realizes she must be pretty tipsy if those are the kind of words coming out of her mouth. Oliver, always a good sport, just shakes his head in amusement.

An hour later, they’re still laughing and talking. Alcohol aside, it’s like no time has passed. The Rothschild is long gone, so are numerous other drinks and cocktails. At first, Oliver had tried to get Felicity to go easy with the alcohol, but she assured him she was fine and would drink responsibly - but she needed to decompress after the night she had. The alcohol also helps with the nerves from seeing Oliver after all this time - not that she told him that part. And he had been determined that she not drink alone.

So they’ve been drinking, filling each other in on the past five years, reminiscing about the years they spent together at QC, and just enjoying one another’s company.

Felicity’s having such a good time that she doesn’t realize how late it’s getting until Roy comes to clear their table and tell them it’s almost closing time.

“Woah, it’s really late,” she comments to Oliver, “I should probably get going. Seeing as I won’t have an engagement to announce tomorrow, I should probably go into the office early and catch up on some things I’ve been pushing off.”

She moves to get up and wobbles slightly, a clear sign the alcohol hasn’t worn off yet. Oliver, in a display of his fireman-worthy reflexes, quickly stands as well and shoots out a hand to steady her.

Their eyes meet, and for a moment, it seems like he might kiss her. And she wants him to. But no, that’s a crazy thought - she broke up with Ray mere hours ago, and there’s no way Oliver feels the same way about her as he did all those years ago. Is there?

A second later, the moment passes, as Oliver pulls away, slipping his hands into his pant pockets.

“I’m really glad I ran into you tonight, Felicity,” Oliver tells her, “though I’m not glad you had to go through that this evening.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Felicity waves off his comment with a shrug. Truth is, Ray couldn’t be further from her mind after the night she’s just spent with Oliver. “I'll probably never get married, anyway.”

“Why would you say that?” Oliver frowns down at her.

“Oh, I just doubt anyone will ever want to marry me.” She hadn’t realized until she said it just now - but it’s true. After tonight, put together with her past non-stellar track record with other men, she just can’t see weddings and happily-ever-afters in her future anymore.

“I would.”

It’s a good thing she’s holding on to the table, otherwise, the shock of his words would send her crashing to the floor.

He must be messing with her, just like old times.

“Ha. Not funny, Queen.”

“I’m serious.”

“Don’t joke with me, Oliver. Not about this.” Not when she’s still in such a fragile state.

His gaze is unwavering. “I’m not joking. I’ll prove it to you right here, right now. Marry me tonight, Felicity.”

And the next thing Felicity remembers, she’s waking up in bed with a wedding ring.

* * *

_Present day_

“Good morning...wife!”

Felicity takes in her surroundings again, just to be sure her mind isn’t playing tricks on her. Unfortunately, everything is exactly the same - down to the matching wedding rings on her and Oliver’s left ring fingers.

But no, she refuses to believe she would have gone through with something so drastic, no matter how drunk she was last night.

“Cut the act, Oliver. There’s no possible way we legally got married last night.”

“Yes, there is. Don’t you remember?” Oliver seems slightly concerned now, his eyebrows drawing together.

“I -- not exactly.” Bits and pieces are coming back to her - the break-up, running into Oliver at Verdant, and even his proposal - but she can’t seem to piece together what exactly happened next. 

“Well, allow me to bring you up to speed. We spent all of last night catching up over drinks at Verdant, I proposed, you said yes, we got married, came back here, went to sleep, woke up, and here we are. Happily married.” Oliver grins widely, reaching out to take her hand in his.

It strikes her again how calm he is and she just can’t wrap her head around how he’s reacting to all of this. Almost as if he’s _glad_ they drunkenly got married. She pulls her hand out of his grasp.

“No. No no no no no no no,” Felicity grabs a blanket from the bed and wraps it around herself before getting up so she can pace back and forth while she makes sense of all this. She needs details, facts, before she can decide how to handle her next move. Oliver watches her from the bed, an amused look on his face. 

“Look, maybe we had some kind of ceremony or exchange of rings or something, but I’m quite certain we can’t possibly have gotten legally married. They may show it all the time in movies, but it isn’t that simple in real life to get married last minute, not to mention in the middle of the night. I’m from Vegas, believe me, I know.”

“I know,” Oliver replies patiently, “but you were sure to look everything up and make sure we did it by the book. In some states, it may not have been possible, but in our case it was.”

“Well, how do you know I didn’t make a mistake? I was pretty hammered, clearly.”

“Are you still Felicity Smoak?”

“Yes…”

“Then you didn’t make a mistake. Even drunk.”

He does have a point there. But still, she needs more information. She fires off question after question, and Oliver provides answers for each one.

“How did we get a marriage license?”

“You downloaded one from your phone and sent a signed one back to the county clerk's office to be filed.”

“Who officiated?”

“Diggle. He’s ordained and was still awake when I called last night. One of the twins was having trouble falling asleep.”

“And he agreed to marry us in that state?!”

“Well, he was hesitant at first but we insisted. He seemed quite happy for us, actually.”

“Where did we find rings?”

It’s the first question that has Oliver hesitating. “Well...we actually found those in the Lost and Found at Verdant.” 

“What?!” Felicity can only imagine what such people these rings might have belonged to.

“But they’re just temporary!” He’s quick to defend.

She shakes her head at him slowly, contemplating taking the ring off. But for some reason she can’t quite understand, she can’t bring herself to remove it.

“Where’s my phone?” She mutters, looking around. She needs to corroborate his story.

Oliver reaches over to the nightstand to hand her the phone and she grabs it from him, angrily.

A few minutes later, Oliver’s words are confirmed. The marriage license, with all three signatures, is in her email outbox. There are also a few photos on her camera roll that she’ll have to take a closer look at later when she’s feeling strong enough. She’s grateful to her past self for at least being careful enough to avoid any mention of what happened last night appearing in today’s news.

She slumps back down on the bed, defeated.

“Felicity?” Oliver asks gently. For the first time all morning, he seems sympathetic, “Look, I know this is sudden, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. I can be a good husband to you, I promise. I never forgot about you, about us, not even after all these years. I think it was fate that brought us back together again last night.” 

“Oliver…” Felicity shakes her head at him, completely baffled by the words coming out of his mouth. This is complete bonkers. “I'm sorry but this is all too much to deal with. This is crazy, you must know that. Catching up after all these years, maybe making plans to go on a date, is one thing, but getting married and wanting to stay married after one failed date five years ago? That’s just _insane_.”

Oliver doesn’t answer her right away, and at first, she thinks she might have gotten through to him. But then he looks at his watch and jumps up.

“Listen, I have to get to work, I have a morning shift today. I’ve left you some breakfast, you can just warm it up if you need. There’s coffee in the pot. We’ll talk later, when I get home from work, I promise, okay?” He looks at her with earnest blue eyes.

There’s nothing for her to say to that but nod. He made her _breakfast_? 

“Any last questions before I go?”

There is one thing she’s still wondering. “Um, last night, did we…” She feels her cheeks redden as she asks, unable to complete the question.

“No,” he smirks at her, “you passed out just after you changed into those. But that can be rectified.”

He turns to walk out, but Felicity stops him as she realizes something. “Wait! Your ring… I don’t want this getting out before we’ve figured out what to do about it...your co-workers are going to notice if you show up to work with it.”

Oliver considers her for a moment, and she’s half-scared he’ll refuse. But then he slowly slips the ring off and places it into his pocket. “Okay, if that’s what you want. But just for work today. It already feels weird not wearing it.”

He bends down and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, and before she can even register what’s happening, he takes his leave.

Felicity lifts a hand to the still-warm spot on her face. _How is she going to get out of this mess?_

* * *

Felicity texts Curtis to let him know she’s going to be working from home today, because there’s no way she can go into the office in this state. She lets him think it’s because of the break-up, when in reality that’s the last thing on her mind.

Instead of work, however, she immediately starts researching annulments and the criteria for filing for one. She makes note of the points she thinks are relevant and immediately gets in touch with a divorce lawyer, using her business connections to find one that can speak to her as soon as possible.

While waiting to hear back from the attorney, she finally gets out of bed, gets dressed, and heads to the kitchen, her curiosity about the breakfast Oliver mentioned getting the best of her.

Felicity walks into the kitchen, unsure what to expect. She remembers that Oliver had told her once that he used to help his family cook, Raisa, in the kitchen when he was younger, but she didn’t know it was a skill he still practiced.

The coffee is still warm, thanks to her state-of-the-art coffee pot. She pours herself a mug, fixing it the way she likes it, before taking a desperately needed gulp. She looks around and-

_Wow_. Sitting on her counter is a beautifully arranged complete breakfast, with a stack of pancakes, cut up fresh fruit, and a perfectly fried sunny-side-up. When in the world did he have time to do all of this?

As soon as the food is reheated, she scarfs it down, amazed at how good it is. Maybe it’s worth staying married just for Oliver’s cooking…

Wait, no! What is she thinking? There’s absolutely no way they’re going to _stay_ married. 

Because people don’t just get married on a whim. Especially people who barely know each other. People that haven’t seen each other in over five years. People who don’t _love_ each oth--

Ok, look. Did she have feelings for Oliver Queen, once upon a time? Yes.

Could she still have feelings for him? Maybe.

But after all that had happened five years ago, the way he broke her heart, can she let him back in and risk being hurt again in the process? _No_.

And she’s certainly not going to stay _married_ to him.

She angrily stabs the last of the pancakes onto her fork and finishes up breakfast, determined to put Oliver out of her mind for the rest of the day and get some actual work done.

* * *

By the time evening falls, Felicity hasn’t gotten one iota of work done. She does, however, have in her hand the annulment paperwork she’d begged the lawyer to rush over for her. Though she’s reluctant to admit it, she’s also been looking up anything and everything about Oliver Queen she can find. Strictly for research purposes, she tells herself. She realizes she’s not really sure how to get a hold of Oliver to get him to sign the papers - they didn’t really set up a time and place to continue their discussion.

Just as she’s considering calling or texting him - aware that she may not even have his current number - she hears a key turn in the lock and the door open. She spins around, heart pounding, only to see Oliver walk in the door.

“Hi honey, I’m home!” He grins at her as she stands there in shock, noticing how his hands are full with numerous bags. She doesn’t even know where to begin.

“Oliver! What are you doing here? How did you get in? What’s all that with you? And don’t call me _honey_.”

Oliver just grins wider and saunters further into the apartment like he owns the place. “Where else would I go? Married couples should live together, shouldn’t they? I’ve been living with Thea the past couple years so I figured it would be best if I moved in here. I got in with the key you gave me last night. These are my belongings and groceries because your cupboards are absolutely bare.”

Oliver continues past her to place the groceries in the kitchen and his suitcase suspiciously close to her bedroom door. He turns back to her, remembering, “oh, and we’ll have to work on finding a pet name you do like.”

“Oliver!” Felicity chases after him, grabbing the annulment papers from her desk as she goes, “I’m going to need that key back. You’re not living here because we’re not staying married. You’re going to sign this, right here, right now.” She shoves the papers in his face.

He takes them from her slowly, frowning at her as he reads them. “Annulment papers? Really, Felicity?” He looks genuinely hurt, but Felicity can’t let that get to her.

“Yes, really. Last night was a mistake and you know it. I had a lawyer draw this up earlier today. I’ve already signed.”

“Under what conditions do you think we would be granted an annulment, Felicity? This isn’t like the movies, you know.” He looks up from his scan of the pages - clearly not having read all the fine print - and gives her a pointed look as he echoes her words from earlier in the day.

“Lack of consent - we were both drunk. And failure to consummate the marriage.” Felicity looks him in the eye as she says it, adamant to show him that she isn’t going to back down.

“The lack of consent is going to be tricky to prove. Still haven’t watched the wedding footage, I gather?” He raises an eyebrow at her and she refuses to respond. It’s true, she couldn’t bring herself to open her camera roll today. But surely there can’t be anything that damning on it, can there? 

“And like I said, we can fix the consummation part, easy…” Oliver continues, inching closer to her as he speaks. Felicity really wishes he wouldn’t, she can hardly think straight when he’s around, let alone when he’s only a hair's breadth away. 

Oliver continues to lean forward, and Felicity freezes in place as his face grows closer and closer, his lips almost touching hers. Is he trying to kiss her? Is she going to _let_ him kiss her? 

She pulls away abruptly and Oliver, thankfully, steps back too.

It’s too late, though - at some point during their heated exchange he had managed to slip the annulment papers back into her hand. Unsigned.

“No thank you, I’ll pass,” Oliver has the audacity to smile at her cheekily, and then swivels back around to the kitchen, setting out ingredients left and right. “So I was thinking stir fry for dinner, if that’s okay.”

He proceeds to procure a cutting board, knife, and wok she didn’t even know she had from her kitchen cabinets.

“Ugh, OLIVER!” That’s it, she’s tried it the nice way. Now it’s time for Loud Voice. She marches up to the counter, “ _WHY_ WON'T YOU SIGN THE PAPERS?”

Oliver stops chopping and looks up at her from across the counter. He takes a deep breath and Felicity readies herself - it seems like he’s finally going to be honest with her. 

“I won’t sign those papers because I _want_ to be married to you, Felicity. I made a mistake five years ago, letting you go, and I’ve been looking for a way to fix things ever since. It might sound crazy, but I think that us getting married last night was a blessing in disguise and exactly what was _supposed_ to happen.” Oliver pauses before adding, “I won’t sign those papers because I _love_ you, Felicity. And I’m going to stay here and prove that to you for as long as it takes.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Hope you are keeping safe and sane out there! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity continue to navigate their new situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it’s been a minute…! Turns out this story is not being as easy to write as I thought it would be. As some commenters already figured out (yay!) - this fic is based on Vic and Val in Season 4 of What I Like About You. Now, that show is basically impossible to find on any of the streaming sites without paying even more money, so it’s been hard for me to draft this story based on my vague memory from when I watched the show over ten years ago (not that this is going to be an exact replica of the show). But the good news is I finally outlined the rest of the story and I have 2 more chapters drafted after this. There should be 8 chapters in total, so my plan is to post this chapter, draft chapter 6, then go back and edit chapter 4 and post and so on (if you followed that, great! If not - no worries!). I appreciate your support and patience!
> 
> I also got distracted from writing this by a bunch of other shows and books - I’ll rec some in the author notes after the chapter if anyone is interested. 
> 
> Now, I started this fic knowing Oliver would be a firefighter but without doing any real research - whoops - and it turns out that most firefighters work 24 hours shifts, meaning that Oliver shouldn’t have been able to leave to work and come back so early in the previous chapter. However, some fire stations do have 12 hours shifts, where you’ll be on a schedule of a few days of day shifts, a few days of night shifts, and then a few days off. So we’re going to assume the FDSC works like that! I still had to go back and minorly edit the previous chapter just so that the time of day would be more accurate. No need to reread, just picture the beginning of this chapter taking place a little later at night!
> 
> Again, I would like to point out that it may seem like Oliver is forcing Felicity to be with him - and if that bothers you in any way, I would advise you not to keep reading. HOWEVER - this is the Oliver Queen that we know and love. And he knows he has a lot to make up for and that Felicity has walls up, walls that he’s going to need to push at a little in order to bring them down (and we all know she has feelings for him too!). In a loving, needing to reassure her way, not a creepy way - hope that makes sense and comes across in the rest of the story. But is he also an idiot for marrying her instead of, say, asking her out on date? Um - YES! Keep reading ;)

_I won’t sign those papers because I love you, Felicity. And I’m going to stay here and prove that to you for as long as it takes._

Oliver holds his breath, bracing himself for Felicity’s reaction. She could easily throw him out of her apartment - and he would go willingly if she continued to insist. But he has a feeling she might just let him get away with this for a while longer. Hopefully long enough for him to prove that he isn’t going anywhere and for her to admit she feels the same way about him.

“Love me?” Felicity balks at Oliver’s confession, “You don't love me…we barely know each other!”

Oliver lets out the breath he was holding - Felicity’s reaction isn’t the best, but it could be worse. No one said this would be easy. She doesn’t believe him, so he’ll just have to work harder to convince her.

“That’s how I feel,” Oliver tells her sincerely, “We spent a lot of time together during your years at QC. The little we spoke in the past five years only confirmed for me how I felt. But fair enough - let me get to know you again, _this_ you. I bet you nothing will change except me falling _more_ in love with you.”

He hopes he hasn’t said too much or scared her off. He’s been trying to tread lightly, play it cool, but Felicity deserves to know the reason he’s acting this way. The reason he’s so sure they could make it work, despite their unique circumstance. Felicity is the only one he’s ever been able to be this open and vulnerable with. And he means every word he tells her.

Watching her walk out of his office - and out of his life - five years ago was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. Harder than finishing business school, harder than taking over QC, harder than losing his father and harder than rushing into fires every day. And the worst part of it was - it had been his fault. He had regretted letting her go the moment he did it, but he had made his choice and felt he had to stand by it. He had believed back then that he couldn’t be with Felicity _and_ be the version of Oliver Queen his family expected him to be.

He couldn’t have been more wrong. Each and every day as CEO of Queen Consolidated would have been made a hundred times more bearable if she had been at his side. Catching glimpses of her at work, running into her in the elevator or online for coffee, were simultaneously the highlight and the most pain-inducing parts of his years as CEO. They were always friendly if they saw one another, but little by little, they began to pull away from one another, as if both silently agreeing it was easier that way.

When Felicity left QC to start up Smoak Tech not long after he became CEO, Oliver couldn’t have been more proud of her. And yet he was devastated that his opportunities to see her - even from a distance - had now become almost non-existent. Feeling like a creepy stalker, yet unable to help himself, he had set up a Google alert for her name - something, ironically, Felicity had taught him to do. If he couldn’t be in her life the way he wanted to, he at least wanted to follow her career and be proud and supportive of her from afar.

It hadn’t slipped his mind that Felicity leaving QC meant that he was no longer her boss, and there was no longer any real obstacle standing in the way of them being together. But after hurting her the previous year, he was nervous about approaching her again. He wasn’t sure he was the kind of man Felicity deserved to be with. His deliberations over what to do were cut short when his father died. Despite already being CEO for almost a year, becoming the official head of the Queen family meant Oliver had to take his job a lot more seriously. There was no room for screw-ups if he were to take care of his family and make his father proud. And there was definitely no time for dating. And so when Felicity sent him the most beautiful bouquet and comforting words of condolence, Oliver thanked her warmly, but left it at that.

It was only a while later, after he had left QC to join the SCFD, that he put serious thought into reaching out to Felicity again. He was finally at a place in his life where he felt at ease - he had found a job that made him feel happy and gave him fulfillment. More so, he had made peace with his identity as both Oliver, the Queen heir, and Oliver, the man with his own personal goals and desires. He was finally forging his own path, while still bringing honor to his family. And maybe, just maybe, he was finally the type of man Felicity Smoak deserved.

But time had not been on his side yet again, for by then it was well known that Felicity was seriously involved with Ray Palmer. Oliver had told himself it was for the best. All that mattered to him was that Felicity was happy. He had his chance with her all those years ago and he blew it. So he tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put her out of his mind and move on.

Until last night, when she strode back into his life and agreed to marry him.

And now, she stands across from him, his _wife_. Despite the fire in her eyes, clearly aimed at him, he couldn’t be happier. He just has to hope he doesn’t screw things up with her this time, despite how unconventional this situation is. Felicity opens her mouth to reply to him, and then closes it, her lips a firm line. She must be carefully calculating how to respond to his confession of love.

He can’t help but let his eyes flicker down to her clenched lips, wondering what it would be like to finally taste them once again. He’d almost given in to the temptation a few moment ago; her lips had been so close and it had been torture to pull away. But he needs to do this the right way - get her to trust him slowly. If anyone’s initiating their second first kiss, it’s going to have to be her. For now, he just needs her to get this ridiculous idea of an annulment out of her head and sit down and have dinner with him.

“Whether you think you love me or not,” Felicity finally responds, waving the annulment paperwork at him, “you _will_ sign these papers, Oliver, mark my words.” 

Oliver just smiles sweetly at her. “Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.”

Felicity looks at the stir fry he’s in the middle of preparing and he can just see her inner struggle. He’s certain she’s not used to having home cooked meals every night - she told him as such in the past, and he’s pretty sure five years haven’t changed the fact that she’s a disaster in the kitchen - and he can practically see her mouth watering. And yet, admitting that the food looks good and enjoying a meal he cooked for her would be admitting defeat in her eyes. He can’t wait to see how she responds.

“Well, looks like there will be plenty of stir fry for you, because I’m not having any.”

“You don’t need to prove anything to me, Felicity. I know that you agreeing to eat the food I made for you doesn’t mean you’re suddenly okay with being married to me. As I said, I know I made a mistake and I have a lot to make up for. Let me start by making sure you’re well fed. Didn’t you like the breakfast I made you?”

“It was fine but I can feed myself, thank you very much,” Felicity bites back, “I’ll be perfectly fine with cereal for dinner.”

Oliver frowns at the poor nutritious choice (and at the fact that she only thought his food was _fine_ ), but doesn’t force the matter. If this is how she wants to play it, he’ll just have to show her what she’s missing out on.

Felicity leaves the kitchen after that, muttering about all the work she needs to catch up on after spending the day trying to clean up the mess they’re in. Oliver is just relieved she hasn’t kicked him out yet.

Oliver keeps himself busy for the next thirty minutes or so, stirring the food in the wok every so often, putting away the groceries he bought, and just taking in the surroundings, enjoying the inside look he’s getting at Felicity's life. Just as he’s sitting down to eat at one end of the kitchen table, Felicity returns to the room and he looks up expectantly, hoping she’s changed her mind about joining him. Completely ignoring him, Felicity, makes a big show of picking out her cereal and pouring it into a bowl with some milk. Spoon clanking loudly against the side of the bowl, she sits down across from him, placing the cereal box strategically in front of her, hiding from his view.

Well, just because she can’t _see_ him, doesn’t mean she can’t _hear_ him. This is going to be _fun_.

“ _Mmm_ ,” Oliver hums around a bite of his stir fry, “delicious.”

For a moment, Felicity makes no noise or movement at all. But then--

“Oh, _yummm_ ,” Felicity lets out a satisfied moan of her own, “this is the best dinner I’ve had all week. The crunch, the hint of honey, soooo good. _Mhmmm_.”

Uh, oh. Oliver had underestimated the dangers of playing this game with her. The sounds she’s making should be illegal. No, scratch that - he wants to hear her continue to make those sounds, only under very different circumstances. 

Not ready to back down, he continues to make what can only be considered downright dirty noises of his own as he finishes his meal. Felicity angrily adjusts her cereal box, making absolute sure he can’t see her reaction, and continues to give the game they’re playing her all, matching him groan for groan.

Oliver’s glad when they finally finish eating their respective meals. While it _has_ been fun getting her all riled up, he’s ending the night a lot more _frustrated_ than anticipated.

Felicity places her bowl in the dishwasher and turns to address him for the first time since she re-entered the room. Is it just his imagination, or does she seem flustered as well, a tint of pink to her skin?

“I’m turning in for the night because it’s _been a day_. Don’t you dare think of joining me,” she warns with a pointed finger, “If you insist on staying, you can have the couch. I guess it’s all the better for me to keep an eye on you until you come to your senses and sign the annulment papers.”

“All the better for me to convince you to tear them to shreds,” Oliver can’t help but retort.

“That will _not_ be happening,” Felicity turns to leave.

“Wait,” Oliver remembers, taking quick strides over to one of his many bags to remove one of the items he had picked up and hold it out to Felicity, “here, I got us chains for our rings. So we can still wear them until we’re ready to share our news with the world.”

He wonders how long Felicity will leave him hanging, hand outstretched, but she surprises him by grabbing the chain almost immediately. Either she did it to shut him up, or else she too feels a sentimental connection to their wedding rings already, same as he does. He hopes it’s the latter.

Without another word, she leaves for her room.

“Good night!” Oliver calls out to her, “I’ll be right out here...on the couch...if you need me.”

Oliver finishes cleaning up the kitchen and washing all the dishes he used for dinner, along with Felicity's lone bowl and spoon. He divides the leftover stir fry into containers he finds; he’ll be able to grab them for lunch or dinner when he’s on shift this week. He helps himself to a towel and sheets from the linen closet he finds and gets ready for ‘bed’, changing into pajamas and making the couch as comfortable as possible.

Oliver smiles to himself as he closes his eyes. Despite Felicity being less than enthused at their current predicament, and even though he’s been banished to the couch, he can’t remember the last time he was this happy.

* * *

Oliver wakes relatively early the next morning; he has to be at work today again for a shift starting at eight. But Felicity must have left to work early, because she’s nowhere in sight when he looks around the apartment for her.

Disappointed he won’t get to see her until tonight after work, Oliver makes his way to the kitchen to prepare himself some eggs and whole-grain toast to eat. He smiles when he opens the fridge and notices that one of the containers of leftovers is gone. It’s a small gesture, but it means a lot to him.

When Oliver arrives at the firehouse, he is immediately approached by Diggle. He hadn’t been on shift yesterday, so this is the first time they’re seeing each other since his friend married him and Felicity two nights ago. Oliver shakes his head at John, signalling that they’ll talk later, when they can catch a quiet moment alone. 

Several hours later, after being briefed by the team on the previous shift, running some routine maintenance, and answering some calls, there’s enough of a lull in activity that John and Oliver can take a short recess in the break room.

“So, how’s life as a married man been treating you?” Diggle asks with an amused smile, “I see you’ve taken the ring off already, that can’t be a good sign.”

“No, I haven’t,” Oliver reaches under his shirt to show Digg his wedding ring on the chain he’s wearing, “but Felicity doesn’t want to tell anyone just yet, so we’re compromising.”

“Doesn’t want to tell anyone just _yet_...does that mean she’s okay with the fact that you two got married on a whim?” Diggle asks a very valid question.

“What makes you think she wouldn’t be okay with it? _You_ agreed to marry us!” Oliver is slightly offended that his friend would automatically assume things were off to a rocky start. He’s _correct_ , but that's besides the point. 

“Oliver, I was running on almost 24-hours without sleep, and you two were pretty smashed. I’m not saying I regret it, but knowing Felicity, I can imagine she might have had a bit of a shock when she realized what you two had done.”

Oliver hangs his head in defeat. “You’re totally right, John. She completely freaked out yesterday morning. She served me with annulment papers that evening when I got home.”

“But you didn’t sign them,” Digg states more than asks.

“No… not yet, at least. I mean, I’m not going to force her to stay married if she continues to insist but I have to try and show her that…” Oliver pauses, this being only the second time he’s saying the words out loud, and they mean everything to him, “ ...that I _love_ her. And I want to be with her.”

“I know you do, man. Why do you think I married you? I may not have seen you two interact much, but from what little interactions I have seen, and from the times I’ve spoken to each of you and heard you talk about one another -- what can I say? I’ve been rooting for you two!” Diggle throws up his arms in an unabashed ‘I just can’t help myself’ gesture.

Oliver shakes his head with a smile. It’s nice to hear that there’s someone else in his life who believes that he and Felicity are right for each other. 

“Thanks, John. I’m certain Felicity has feelings for me too, but I’ll admit, I’m not sure if I’m going about this the right way. She _just_ got dumped by a man she was planning to marry. And the last time she and I really interacted was five years ago when I was basically breaking up with her… I can understand why she wouldn’t be all that excited about waking up married to me. I don’t want to push too hard, you know?” 

Digg’s face grows serious, “First of all, I know you, Oliver. You would never do anything that you knew would intentionally hurt Felicity. Relationships take work. And in your case, it sounds like you have some things to make up for. You have to gain her trust back, and that takes time and effort. Don’t hold back on showing her how much you care, but trust your instincts not to take things too far.”

“And what if showing her how much I care means giving her the one thing she’s been asking for and letting her go?” Oliver hates to even think of it, but he knows it’s a real possibility. If he messes this up, or senses that Felicity can’t handle what he’s doing anymore, he’ll sign the papers, as much as it will hurt.

“You do know who you’re talking to, right?” Diggle chuckles, “Divorce is definitely not the end of the world, nor does it have to be the end of a relationship. That’s why I was okay with marrying you - besides seeing how happy and excited you were, I knew that my providing you with a piece of paper wasn’t going to make or break your relationship. That part’s up to you and what you do next. So - what are you going to do, Oliver?”

Oliver takes a deep breath. This talk with Diggle was exactly the morale boost he needed. He looks John in the eye as he answers.

“I’m going to fight for her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed getting to read Oliver’s POV. Next time: an unexpected guest arrives! (Still not going to post this on a schedule, but hopefully should be a shorter wait.)
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe and sane. We’re currently on lockdown #3 and numbers are still quite high but there’s finally an end in sight with the vaccines approved - hang in there, everyone, and keep reading fanfic ;)
> 
> As promised, here’s what I’ve been watching:
> 
> You’re The Worst - this is a super fun quick romcom binge (~60 20 min episodes). But it’s not just a comedy - there’s some more mature/dark topics explored, like mental health, and it’s done very very well. Probably one of THE BEST (aka HAPPY) tv show endings I’ve ever seen. Got so obsessed I even wrote a fic for it (if you want to read it, make sure you watch the show first because there are finale spoilers)!
> 
> This Way Up - an even shorter show, just 6 episodes so far - another great dramedy, loving sister relationship and story about a young woman getting over a nervous breakdown. Also, I love their Irish accents!
> 
> Bridgerton - along with the rest of the world, ha. I loved the setting and many of the characters, but didn’t love the main couple. Luckily, the next seasons should move on to the other siblings!
> 
> A Discovery of Witches Season 2 - I enjoyed this books series and show!
> 
> The Rookie - I started watching this for the couple everyone ships (Tucy/Chenford) and let me tell you - they do not disappoint! Similar to Olicity, the characters were not written as romantic interests to start but they just have this natural chemistry. It’s so fun to ship a new couple from the beginning, before they even get together (fingers crossed they actually do)! It’s a cop drama, but it has its comedic moments and a whole ensemble of characters to root for.
> 
> And now for some books! I just got a kindle and access to a library card, here are some rom-com type books I’ve enjoyed lately: Well Met, Friend Zone, Bromance Book Club, Spoiler Alert (the last one is a love letter to fandom!)
> 
> Also - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a really great historical fiction (with some romance) and a good movie, too!
> 
> (Feel free to rec some shows/books in the comments - but then don’t blame me if it takes even longer for me to post the next chapter ;p)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise visitor arrives...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone - I'm back with a new chapter! I personally think it's a fun one, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has left kudos and comments - really helps with the motivation to keep writing, because this story doesn't always make it easy for me to write it ;P 
> 
> on a personal note, I was lucky enought to recieve my first covid shot this week (I felt totally fine, except for a sore arm and a slight headache) and am hoping that soon it will be available for all and we can start to put this pandemic behind us <3

Felicity’s first instinct when she sees the Caller ID pop up on her cell is to ignore the call.

She’s been dealing with enough stress lately, she’s not sure she has what it takes to talk to her mother on top of that.

So far, she’s been doing a pretty good job at flat-out ignoring Oliver whenever he was home. These past few days he’d been on the day shift at the station, so she made sure she was either out the door before he woke up for work in the morning or else she waited for him to leave before she got out of bed, and she locked herself in her room before he got home at night. She refused to eat meals with him, but she knew he was aware of the fact that she had been ‘stealing’ his leftovers. What could she do - she’d be a fool not to take advantage of the home cooked meals at her disposal. They were  _ really good _ , if a bit too healthy at times, not that she’d ever admit that to him.

Just because they didn’t see each other face to face over the last couple of days didn’t mean they didn’t find other ways to communicate, however. Felicity, for one, had taken to leaving the annulment papers out in places she knew he would see when he came home - on his pillow on the couch, leaning against the mirror in the guest bathroom, near the stove... That last location had been a mistake - the pages were waiting for her next to her cereal box the following morning, slightly singed. Oliver had started leaving her little notes in return, tucking them into ‘her’ lunch boxes. She made a point of throwing them in the trash where he could see them, but she secretly looked forward to finding out what he had jotted down for her each day. Today’s note had read, “ _ Have a good day - show ‘em who’s boss _ !” and it had made her smile, begrudgingly.

But while the last few days have been bearable, today is a different story. Oliver currently has a few days off, then he’ll have the night shift for a few days, followed by another break before the cycle repeats itself. All of which means it will be a lot harder to avoid him. When she gets home tonight, he’ll almost certainly be there waiting for her, and she’s not sure what her next move should be. Her attempts to get him to leave the apartment and sign the annulment papers have been unsuccessful thus far and she’s worried that he’ll slowly wear her down and never leave. 

And she can’t let that happen.

Even though he told her he  _ loves _ her.

In the past, love confessions from men she’d dated had made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She’d always felt like it was too soon for those words to be spoken. With Ray, especially, it took her a while to say ‘I love you’ back to him - and she’s pretty sure now that she was never actually  _ in love _ with him. This time is different. Hearing Oliver tell her he loved her was the first time the words hadn’t made her want to go running for cover. They’d made her feel warm and cherished and  _ happy _ . And they’d made her wish they were true.

Because she doesn’t believe him. Oliver can’t possibly be in love with her after knowing her for such a short amount of time, and five years ago at that.

(Even if she’s pretty sure  _ she  _ still has feelings for him.)

Her phone is still ringing. Felicity is just about to let it go to voicemail when she notices the date and time.  _ Frak! _

A few weeks ago, Felicity had booked her mother round trip tickets to come and visit her for a few days this week, knowing that she’d be getting engaged and her mother would find her way over anyway. This way, she could at least control the length of time she’d be visiting. But with all the excitement of the past few days, Donna’s trip had completely slipped her mind. She’d updated her mother about the breakup (she hadn’t been too fazed by the news), but forgot to ask her if she could reschedule her trip.

If her estimation is correct, Felicity figures that Donna is just arriving at her apartment, where she’ll let herself in with her spare key. (She really needs to rethink who she gives her spare keys to.) As she rushes to pick up the call, Felicity hopes it’s not late to stop what’s inevitably about to occur.

“Hi Mom! Where are you?”

“Felicity!” An urgent whisper comes in over the line, followed by a high-pitched, frantic, “There’s a burglar in your house!”

“What, Mom, no, it’s ok, you can calm down, that’s just--” Felicity stumbles over her words, needed to reassure her mother that the man in her apartment is not a burglar, but not ready to explain that he’s there because he’s her  _ husband _ .

“I tried opening your door and there was a man inside, so I quickly closed it and rushed down the hall and called you. My suitcase is pretty heavy so I guess I can use it as a weapon if I need to but should we call the police? Didn’t you say your friend’s father was a detective? You know, I read about the crime rates in Star City, maybe you need to look for a safer apartment.” Donna’s voice is getting louder and more and more panicked as she speaks.

“Mom!” Felicity raises her voice to get her mother to stop rambling, “That’s not a burglar, ok? That’s Oliver and I know he’s in my apartment, telling you about him completely slipped my mind. Let me just call him and…”

“Oh! Is that...I think...he’s coming out now, Felicity, let me just…” Donna’s voice trails off, and the rest of the sound is muffled; she must have moved the phone away.

“Mom, wait!” Felicity wants to explain, but it’s no use, as she can already hear the deep tone of Oliver’s voice in the background. Felicity groans and lifts a fist to her forehead. Her mother is meeting Oliver Queen, her _ accidental husband, _ at this very moment, and she’s not there to run interference.

Some of the most stressful minutes of Felicity’s life tick by, until Donna’s voice finally comes through again.

“Felicity! This Oliver of yours says he's your  _ husband _ ?!” Felicity pales as her worst fears are confirmed. Godammit, Oliver! The last thing she wanted was anyone else to know about their predicament,  _ especially  _ her mother, who’s still prattling on excitedly, “I can’t believe you got  _ married _ without telling your own mother! And so soon after Ray...unless he’s the  _ reason _ you...but never mind, I absolutely approve, he’s so  _ handsome _ , Felicity, I remember you telling me about him when you worked together…”

“Mom, please stop, it’s not what you think!” The last thing she needs is Oliver overhearing her mother grossly exaggerate whatever she thinks she remembers Felicity telling her about him five years ago.

Her mother finally quiets, but it appears Felicity’s words have nothing to do with that effect, because the next thing she hears is, “Why yes, I would love something to drink, Oliver.”

“Mom - wait, no, don't go in there with him,” Felicity racks her brain for anything she can do to stop this, “Why don’t you leave your bags with Oliver and then come hang out at the office with me? I’ll order you a car.”

“Nonsense, baby girl, I wouldn’t want to bother you. I’ll be fine here getting to know my new son-in-law! See you later, hun!”

And then Donna Smoak has the audacity to hang up on her.

Felicity stares at her phone in shock and then jumps up, grabs her purse and coat and makes sure her work is saved before shutting down her computer. She only pauses to tell Curtis she’s leaving early and then she rushes home.

* * *

Laughter greets Felicity when she opens the door to her apartment, which does nothing to quell the sense of dread she’s been feeling ever since she picked up the call from her mother. She’s not worried that Oliver and her mother won’t get along - she’s worried that they  _ will _ . She knows her mother is going to be so enamored with Oliver that she’ll completely overlook the fact that their marriage was a drunken mistake and she knows that Oliver will be laying it on thick to impress her mother in hopes of getting on Felicity’s good side. 

But Felicity has a plan to fix everything - she’s going to use her mother’s presence to her advantage and get Oliver out of her apartment once and for all.

Both Donna and Oliver look up in surprise from where they’re sharing drinks and some sort of baked good at the kitchen table when they hear her come in.

“Felicity!” Donna recovers first and runs over to give Felicity a hug, which she returns, limply. “I didn’t know you were coming home early. You didn’t have to worry about leaving us alone, Oliver is being the perfect host. He was just showing me pictures from your wed...well, the night you got married. You both look so happy! But couldn’t you at least have gotten a rabbi to perform the ceremony? And a  _ chuppah _ ...”

Felicity looks over to Oliver, who does indeed have his phone in hand. She still hasn’t mustered up the courage to look at the photos from that night, and she’s definitely not ready to look at them with Oliver and her mother. 

Oliver gives her a small wave, “Hi, Felicity. How was your day at work? Care to join us? I made some oatmeal cookies if you’d like a snack.”

“Mom.” Felicity promptly ignores Oliver and grabs her mother’s hand, “Come talk to me in my room for a minute.”

Without waiting for a response, she drags Donna towards the bedroom. She closes and locks the door for good measure, and then turns to face her mother.

“I’m sure you’re very happy for me that I finally found a guy who wanted to marry me. But what I’m sure Oliver  _ didn’t  _ tell you is that we got drunk and the marriage was a mistake.  _ I _ don’t want to be  _ married  _ to  _ him _ . We’re getting an annulment.”

“Felicity, getting married accidentally doesn’t mean it was a  _ mistake _ ,” Donna shakes her head at her, “In fact, it doesn’t sound much different than when I married your father, although at least we had a Tom Jones impersonating rabbi…”

“You’re making my point for me,” Felicity tilts her head and gives her mother a pointed look, “Dad left us.”

Donna sighs, sitting down on Felicity’s bed, “Yes, but...that was because of your  _ father _ , not because of our wedding. Oliver is nothing like your father. He really loves you, I can tell. He told me all about your past, how he always regretted letting you go and how it felt like a sign when you ran into each other…”

“You spent all of ten minutes with him, Mom--” Felicity rubs her hands over her face in frustration.

“I knew it in five,” Donna is adamant, “And I can tell that you love him too. More than you loved Ray, if you ever did love him. I know you, Felicity, and I know you wouldn’t have found yourself in this position with someone you didn’t trust and care for. I remember you telling me about him all those years ago...those kind of feelings don’t just disappear.”

Felicity has never regretted anything more than telling her mother about that failed date. She’d been hurt and upset, and her mother had been bugging her about her dating life, and the whole story had come out one evening a few years back. But now she wishes she had never said a thing.

“Mom, forget what I told you back then. The truth is that Oliver and I barely know each other. I  _ know  _ you must understand that this is crazy. You should be on my side, helping me get him to sign the annulment papers and get the hell out of my apartment.”

Donna takes a deep breath and reaches out to place her hand on Felicity’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “I know you don’t want to hear this, hun, but I don’t think you need my help getting Oliver to leave, or sign those papers if that’s what you really want. You could get the locks changed, or even hack his bank account to give you leverage until he signs. I think deep down, you want him to stay and fight for you. And you know what? You  _ deserve  _ it.”

Felicity clenches her fists, unwilling to admit that her mother might have a point. Why  _ hadn’t _ it crossed her mind to hire a locksmith or spam Oliver’s phone with porcupine flatulence? No, there’s no way it’s because she actually  _ likes _ having him here and wants to stay married to him. She was just...being nice, trying to reason with him with words first. She’ll ask him one more time tonight, and if refuses, well, her mother just gave her some very inspiring ideas.

“Thanks Mom, you’re right, I  _ do _ have the means to get rid of him, and I intend to use them. I do not  _ subconsciously  _ want him to stay. Besides, we both know how this ends if I let him. He’ll leave eventually, just like everyone does. Dad, Cooper, Ray, even Oliver himself left me five years ago…” She tries not to let the hurt creep into her voice, but there’s no hiding it from Donna, who engulfs her in a warm hug.

“I know, baby girl, and I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all of that,” Donna murmurs into her ear, before pulling back and looking her in the eye. “But you have to know that their leaving was about  _ them  _ and never because of you. You’re an amazing young woman, Felicity, and anyone who fails to see that is a fool. I know you’re afraid of getting hurt. And I know Oliver was one of the people that hurt you, but I think you know that he doesn’t quite fall into the same category as everyone else, what with everything else that was going on with his family. You gotta give him a chance, baby. All I want for you is to be happy. And I think Oliver makes you happy…”

It’s all too much. The pain of remembering all the men who had left her (she refuses to dwell on the fact that Oliver leaving hurt most of all). Her mother’s unrelenting belief that everything will be okay if she just stays married to a man she married on a whim. Oliver’s refusal to get out of her apartment and just give her some fraking  _ space _ . Felicity pulls out of her mother’s embrace abruptly. 

“No, Mom, you’re living in some kind of a fantasy. This isn’t going to end with some magical happily ever after. That’s it, I'm asking Oliver to leave, and leave now.” She turns for the door and rushes to locate Oliver.

“Felicity!” Donna calls out, and begins to follow her, but she’s not as quick as Felicity in her stilettos. 

Felicity makes a beeline for Oliver, who - surprise, surprise - is mixing up some concoction in her kitchen.

“Oliver.” Felicity demands his attention, and makes sure she has it before stating definitively, “My mom is going to be sleeping on my pull-out couch while she’s here. You can’t stay here anymore.”

Oliver meets her gaze, and she prepares herself for an argument, or at the very least a suggestion that he share  _ her _ bed, but instead he just says, “You didn’t tell me the couch pulled out.”

Felicity smirks. She  _ may _ have forgotten to mention that to him. “You didn’t ask.”

“Okay,” Oliver finally says after a beat. “I’ll stay with Thea or at the station while your mother is here.”

It doesn’t slip her notice that he makes it sound like he’ll be back when Donna leaves. But she doesn't care, because once her mother is gone, she is  _ definitely _ changing her locks.

“Oliver doesn’t have to leave just yet, though,” Donna finally makes it over to them and inserts herself in their conversation, “Can’t he stay for dinner? He mentioned making a kosher chicken cordon bleu…”

Felicity looks between the two of them, with matching pleading faces, and eyes the ingredients Oliver has laid out, unable to ignore how good the dish sounds.

“Fine,” she mutters. She can suffer through one meal with the two of them if it’s the last one she has to share with Oliver living here. 

* * *

Dinner goes surprisingly well. Maybe it’s because she knows that Oliver will be leaving when it’s over that Felicity finds herself able to relax and - dare she say - enjoying it.

Donna wants to know more about Oliver’s family and job, and he’s happy to share. In return, he asks her all about her life in Vegas and her mother entertains him with stories about her work and friends.

Of course, the conversation eventually turns to the one topic they both have in common: her. Felicity does her best to make sure the conversation doesn’t veer into embarrassing territory. Her mother shares stories about her as a child, the way she fell in love with computers at a young age and what it was like parenting a ‘child genius’. Felicity is grateful that Donna skips over her less happy memories, namely, anything to do with her dad and Cooper. She feels her heart softening slightly towards her mother as she mentions the extra shifts she took on to help pay for some of Felicity's extracurriculars - while they may clash at times, it’s clear that her mother was only doing her best to raise a child she felt somewhat inadequate to parent at times. Felicity reaches over to squeeze her mother’s hand and Donna smiles at the gesture.

In turn, Oliver begins to share stories about her of his own, encounters he and Felicity had shared over the years that she never in a million years would think he would have remembered. Donna hangs on to every word, clearly still caught up in the delusion that she and Oliver are meant to be together and will live happily ever after. Felicity, despite her resolve not to get caught up in Oliver Queen again, can’t help feeling somewhat breathless as she hears Oliver recount the memories he has of them from back then.

“I had it bad for your daughter, Donna,” he’s saying now, with a chuckle and shake of his head, “I kept making up excuses to come see her after we first met, and even though I’m sure she saw right through them, she was always quick to help in any way that she could.”

He turns towards Felicity now, meeting her gaze as he continues to recall, “I told her the most ridiculous things - that I needed help with scavenger hunts, or tracking down specific models of sporting equipment, or - and this is probably the worst - analyzing the contents of some new--”

“Sports drink.” Felicity finishes the thought together with him, and they share a genuine smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Felicity can see her mother giddily eying the exchange. 

Suddenly feeling flushed, she stands and begins to clear the table. She needs time to process what Oliver just shared. Was he really that into her back then, so early after their first acquaintance? Sure, she had wanted to call him out on his bullshit numerous times, but she had actually  _ liked _ him coming to see her, so she never did, save for some pointed looks from time to time. But she had always thought Oliver’s reasons for coming to see her at first were to get her to help him study, or just to blow off some steam at times when his responsibilities at the company felt like too much of a burden. Although, now that she thinks of it - how many times can one person accidentally delete their entire hard drive?

The way Oliver spoke just now, recounting things she had obsessed over at the time, believing she was the only one who thought there was a chance of something more, makes her almost believe that her feelings were never unrequited. Makes her almost believe he did and does actually love her, then  _ and  _ now.

But no, she reminds herself, she can’t be veered off track. He can’t possibly think that sharing a few stories means she’ll agree to stay married to him...

Donna excuses herself to freshen up while Oliver and Felicity get started on the dishes. She should tell him he can go, she’ll clean up herself, but for some reason she can’t get the words out. They make a good team, with Felicity washing and Oliver drying and putting things away (honestly, he probably knows better than she does at this point where things belong). There’s something so  _ domestic _ about it, and Felicity can’t really put her finger on how it makes her feel.

“I like your mom,” Oliver breaks the silence.

“She likes you too,” Felicity tells him, “She and I don’t always see eye to eye but, you know, she’s my mom…”

Oliver shakes his head. “I loved watching the two of you together at dinner tonight. My relationship with my parents was nothing like this. We had family dinners from time to time, but my parents were always busy and you could tell they mostly just cared about how we were doing in school and if we were keeping up good appearances. Your mom really cares about you and wants you to be happy, Felicity.”

Donna comes back from the bathroom and Oliver trails off. Felicity almost wishes her mother hadn’t chosen that moment to make her reappearance.  _ Here  _ was the Oliver she had missed, the man she had shared deep and meaningful conversations with once upon a time. She’d love to continue talking to this Oliver about how his relationship with his family has changed in the past five years, instead of arguing over annulments with the deranged Oliver who had taken over her apartment these past days. But now it’s time for him to leave.

Oliver clears his throat. “Well, I guess I should be going…Lovely meeting you, Donna.”

He reaches out to shake her hand, but instead Donna pulls him into a hug.

“The pleasure was all mine, son! I can call you that now, right?”

Oliver looks flustered and unsure how to respond. Felicity glares at her mother and ushers Oliver to the door before either of them can say anything else. 

Oliver picks up his bag, which is waiting by the door. Felicity thinks of something to say but isn’t sure what. The events of the past few hours have unnerved her and she’s no longer sure what her plan should be moving forward. She should be ecstatic that he’s actually leaving this time, for good, so why does she feel so anxious, like they’re saying goodbye forever? She shakes that thought - they’re still married, at the very least they’ll need to see each other one last time to finalize the annulment. But she’s starting to realize that she doesn’t want Oliver out of her life  _ completely _ , though she’s unsure exactly in what capacity she expects him to be in it.

Just as she’s about to say something, anything, Oliver turns to face her. “Felicity, I’m going to give you some space while your mom is here, don’t worry. I’m not trying to push you--”

Felicity scoffs at that, but he continues.

“I’m just trying to show you that I’m serious about you. About us. Look, you’re right, maybe we need to dial things back a bit. Get back to the basics. I noticed the invitation on your fridge for the Star City Tech Gala next week. I haven’t attended since I left QC but I’m sure my mom could get me in. Would you like to go with me as my date?”

Felicity’s heart falls. The gala. It was supposed to be her and Ray’s first public debut as an engaged couple. She had thought about not attending but decided she wasn’t going to give Ray the satisfaction. It’s been one of the best events to find investors and customers for Smoak Tech and it would be downright stupid to miss it for such a petty reason. It’s tempting to accept Oliver’s offer, if only for the fact that it would be nice to rub it into Ray’s face that she’s found someone new already. But...she doesn’t want to give  _ Oliver _ the satisfaction of going with him either. Maybe if he hadn’t reacted the way he did when they woke up married to each other, if he’d asked her out on a date back then instead of refusing to leave her apartment. No, she’s not going to let him win at this game they seem to be playing. She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Can’t, sorry. I already have a date.” Ok, maybe not the  _ best  _ thing to have said, given that it’s a lie.

“You have a date?” Oliver seems surprised by the information, and possibly suspicious that she’s not telling the truth.

“Yes.” Felicity sticks to her story. “You and I may be married on paper, but we are  _ not _ together, and therefore free to date who we please.”

“I see.” Oliver nods his head slightly, contemplating her words, “Well, I’m not going to date anyone else. You’re it for me. I guess I’ll see you and your  _ date _ at the gala.”

“I guess you will,” Felicity refuses to be flustered. She makes a show of opening the door and ushering Oliver out, “Good night!”

She closes and locks the door, leaning back up against it with a sigh. It should be a sigh of relief, but she’s left feeling even more flustered and anxious than when she walked in the door this afternoon.

She now has to survive these next few days with her mother, plus find a date for this gala. 

Not to mention, she still needs to get Oliver to sign the annulment papers.

And she’s not sure which of those to be more worried about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and [kind] comments make my day!
> 
> ps I'm also on twitter and tumblr @LiteraLi1110 - feel free to follow/say hi!


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